First Meeting
by JayBird92
Summary: This is the story of how Howie and Casey first met.


First day

Howie stretched his arms up above his head and felt his back loosen up with a couple of pops. They had been lifting and carrying heavy boxes from the car to their dorm room all day, and it felt like every part of his 6 foot 2 inch frame was now sore and stiff. Rolling his shoulders back to help release some tension, Howie decided that it was definitely time for a little rest and relaxation before school officially began and coursework overtook their lives.

Lying down on his bed, Howie glanced over at his new roommate Ben. Not that Ben was new, they had been friends since high school. But sharing a room together was new. Living in a place that wasn't his parents' house was new. Having a whole hallway of people around him at all times was new. Still, University didn't have to be completely overwhelming and scary when you started off already knowing one person. Right?

Wait, was he still allowed to be scared? He was a freshman, out on his own. He was supposed to be adulting now. Everyone else they passed appeared to be excited and energized, so why was Howie wishing he could crawl under his blankets and stay there for the week? School hadn't even officially begun, and yet Howie was already beginning to worry that he might start unravelling at any moment.

_TH-THUMP_. Howie's heart started beating a little bit faster. _TH-THUMP_. He could feel a few beads of sweat start to form at his hair line. He needed to get a grip. He took in a long, steadying breath and realized that Ben had been talking.

"—but because my older brother was a brother when he was here, I think that'll be my advantage to becoming a brother too, you know?"

"Wait… What? Can you say that again Ben, but in English this time?" Howie tilted his head so that his shaggy brown hair fell at a silly angle, then crossed his green eyes as he caught Ben's attention. Ben laughed and restarted his train of thought.

"I'm talking about my older brother's fraternity house, Howie. And getting them to know me before Rush week begins. That's when everyone and their dog tries to get in, so I want to give myself the best chance possible." Ben sat down on the edge of Howie's bed. "You should come with me, check it out, see if it interests you. These could be friends that you make for the rest of your life!"

"Thanks for the invite Ben" he replied, a big grin and a gentle laugh passing his lips. "But that sounds like too much of a commitment for me right now. Honestly, I think that all I'm good for tonight is to bring these empty boxes back to the car, and maybe then we can grab a beer?"

"Now you're speaking my language!" Ben happily replied, jumping up from Howie's bed and stacking the empty boxes together. "My parents are driving up together tomorrow evening to get the car, and then they are each driving one back home. So while you are getting these out of the way, I'll pick up some 6-packs. In fact, I'll let everyone know that we're hosting the first BYOB dorm party on our floor, it will be a great way to meet everyone! Especially the girls, right?!"

"Y-yeah…." Howie mumbled and nodded his agreement. "Absolutely."

As Ben began buzzing around the room, sliding some things under his bed and throwing others in to his drawers, Howie picked up the boxes and headed down to the car. Until classes began on Monday, they had been allowed to park their car in the school parking lot during the two preceding "moving-in" days . As Howie closed the trunk, he looked around and watched all the smiling, happy freshmen and their families. Everyone looked at ease, waving hello to people that they recognized and hugging their parents one last time as they said good bye.

_TH-THUMP. _

How were they all so confident? Was he the only one feeling like he didn't belong? Howie's heart started beating faster as his anxiety ramped up. _TH-THUMP. _

His stomach did a small flip, was he going to vomit? _TH-THUMP TH-THUMP_. Sitting down abruptly on the curb beside the car, Howie brought his hands up to press the fleshy base on his thumbs in small circles on to the sides of his scalp, just above his ears. He took in some deep breaths and reminded himself that he had a plan. He was going to be a bio major. He was going to go into the medical field. He was going to make it. Concentrate, focus, keep it together. Breath.

Howie felt his heart start to slow down and imitate a more regular rhythm. _TH-Thump_. He kept his hands on the sides of his scalp, rubbing circles and taking deep breaths. _Th-thump, th-thump, th-thump_. "_You can do this_," he told himself. "_Get up, go back to your room, and have a fun time tonight with Ben before school really starts."_

Letting his hands fall down to his sides, Howie stood up and walked back the short distance to his dorm building. Pushing open the glass doors, his reflection as he entered the lobby showed that the sides of his hair had stayed in a more pushed back position. _Not bad_, he thought. _A little less messy. I like it_.

He was still focused internally as he reached his floor and tried to open the door to his room. But of course it was locked, Ben had gone out for the beers. Standing in front of his door as he searched his pockets for the keys, Howie didn't notice as another student walked up to the door of the room right beside his own. Carrying his own boxes, this other student watched him curiously for a moment before breaking in to a friendly grin.

"Hi," the other student greeted him. He was shorter than Howie probably by a good 6 inches, with big brown eyes and fly-away hair.

"I'm Casey Sooch. But most of my friends just call me Sooch. Like "pooch", but with an S."

"I'm Howie, hi Sooch" he responded, taking an immediate liking to Casey, but unable to say more as his brain rolled on ahead unexpectedly. _Sooch… like pooch.… like.… smooch…. _

_TH-THUMP._

Wait… what?

"— your roommate?" Casey had asked.

"Sorry?" Howie smiled bashfully, realizing that he had again missed the beginning of a sentence.

Casey stopped and gave a big friendly laugh, a huge grin lighting up his features and spreading a feeling of warmth throughout Howie's chest. "I was asking you if you had your own keys or if your roommate still had the only set."

"Oh, uh, yeah. I've got my own keys. But I think they are inside my room, on my dresser. So until Ben gets back, I don't think they'll do me any good."

"Then we can hang out together in the hallway! My roommate has our set too and should be here shortly. I need to put down this box anyways." Casey happily set down his boxes, then sank down on to the thin carpet that lined the hallway. Howie sat down beside him, happily listening as Sooch started telling him about his drive to Raisley, and how he had connected with his roommate through one of the university dorm matching apps.

"You should come out tonight!" Howie suddenly interrupted, a light blush quickly spreading across his cheeks as Casey paused in mid sentence, his mouth frozen on whatever word he had been about to say. "I mean, you should come out to our party tonight. We're having a BYOB night to get to know the people on our floor."

"Oh that sounds great!" Casey responded eagerly. "I don't know anyone here so I'm looking forward to making some friends."

"Yeah," replied Howie. "Having friends is really important."

"Yeah." Leaning his head back against the wall, Sooch looked up at the ceiling and then back over to Howie. His eyes twinkled with mirth and happiness. "But it looks like I'm off to a good start! I haven't even met my roommate in person yet, so you are officially the first friend I have made here at R.U."

Howie watched that huge, all encompassing smile take over Sooch's face again. He really enjoyed being the cause of that kind of happiness. "We should mark this occasion then," he said, reaching in to his pocket for his phone.

Placing it on top of Sooch's boxes and setting the timer, Howie sat back down beside his new friend and they both smiled as the flash went off.

**xxXXxx**

**A/N**

**I already have more ideas for how tonight's party goes down. I adore these characters so much! Go and read the full comic ****/series/RU_Screwed**

**You can find this first picture on Kimmikala's R.U. Screwed comic, pages 4.25-4.28**

**Follow Kimmikala (Patr eon) to see the side comic "First Meeting" that inspired this fic.**


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